Tunable capacitors have various uses in RF systems including as voltage-tunable devices. Some benefits of tunable capacitors are integration of different values and functions of capacitance. Applications for tunable capacitors can include tunable filters, voltage controlled oscillators, tunable phase shifters, tunable matching networks, low-impedance power supplies, decoupling high-frequency signals at an IC bonding pad, or others.
Integrated circuits including tunable capacitors can, for example, be used in portable electronics for low-power wireless communication (e.g., cellular phones, pagers, PDAs, and so forth), directional antenna systems, high clock-rate microphones, miniature DC to DC converters, or other devices.